This had SUCH potential, but was bogged down by a plot with simply Too Many Things Happening. By the middle of the book, the main character had already escaped various villains three times (!!!), met the queen, figured out the queen was a bit wacky, and there was still more to come? The idea of this serving wench going on a quest is adorable, and the humor was there in the beginning, but everything unraveled the more she traveled across the land. If this were *heavily* edited, I think it would be much more appealing.

I can’t get over how much I loved Tanya, our lovable, badass protagonist. Here is a girl who does not apologize for who she is. Who is smart as a whip and who is NO damsel in distress. She will save herself thank you very much.

If you love comic one liners that will have you cracking up, a main character that you never stop cheering for, and a crazy fun fantasy adventure, then I highly recommend Wench for you!

Thank you Amulet Books and NetGalley for an eARC of Wench by Maxine Kaplan. All opinions are my own, as usual.

Full disclosure: I was getting over a reading slump while finishing this so I was probably more likely to DNF this than if I wasn't in a slump.

DNF at 30%

Wench started off as a feminist fantasy with an interesting magic system. The main reasons I DNFed the book was the pacing and plot. This part of the review might be kind of a spoiler so be aware!

Tanya's tavern she has worked at all her life is closing since the owner died. She wants to get the place back by talking to the queen. The only way she thinks to do this is to go along with the commander's troop and deliver this magical feather she found in hopes of the queen speaking with her. My problem is that this is such a far fetched idea and the pacing didn't help. Tanya goes with the commander and then another group but isn't working very hard to get to the capitol.

Overall, I think people would still like this, it just wasn't for me.

This book has a fascinating premise and I love the idea and story of it. Unfortunately it ended up being a bit of a miss for me. There were some things that I loved though, so I want to break those down in a bit more detail. 

First off, I loved the strength of Tanya, the protagonist lead. She is such a strong willed and self sufficient character and I was completely there for her feminist approach to life in this medieval book. She's a wench, sure, but she breaks up fights, mends clothes and handles things on her own terms. She is not afraid to back down from danger and she's the kind of strong female lead that I love to see in a book.

Next I really enjoyed the pace of this book. Sometimes I sit down with a book and it feels like it can take 3/4 of the book to get to any action. This happened to me with another book of a very well known author recently, so I greatly appreciated having such a fast paced book. Right from the first chapter and the death of her "mentor" there is action and intrigue and unknowns and I loved that.

For me, the thing that fell flat was the story in general. Even though I adored the protagonist and the speed of the book the story almost felt forced I didn't feel a good reading flow when I sat down with this book. Most likely this is because it's a book that didn't click for me and that's okay, not every book is for everyone. 

I would recommend this book if you like medieval tales that have a twist to them or if you love strong female characters this is a must too. Again, even though this book wasn't for me doesn't mean someone else out there won't absolutely love it.

I think this book is great for younger YA readers. I don't know that older or more mature readers would enjoy this as much as other YA books in the genre. I had a hard time connecting with the characters. Overall just an okay book for me.

Unfortunately I was unable to finish this book. There's nothing really wrong with this book; it's more a case of "right book, wrong time" because I'm just really not in the mood for a book that feels like it's going to meander towards its goal. The writing is good, and the book itself seems to be shaping up towards a fun fantasy, which I usually like. However, it's simply not the right book for me at this time. I might return to this book and finish it in the future! Also, this is just my personal opinion, so please don't let this discourage you from reading this Wench if you want to read it!

For the most part, Wench is a delightful medieval fantasy novel with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, interesting characters and witty banter.

A few moons ago, I used to read YA fantasy books like I breathe air, and ate them like potato chips. Then the treads started up with many authors pretty much doing the same thing over and over again. Walking back to the genres has been (so far) very good with the help of many of my GR friend’s reviews;. Wench is a book that made me remember that there truly are some gems out there! There was never a true dull moment in this book, and it was hard for me to walk away without wanting to read just a few more pages…! And that alone is a mark that I’m soo going to enjoy this book!

From the get go you know the author did her homework, but instead of giving you an overdose helping of history, the author worked it very nicely into the story, making it easy to follow whose who. While the beginning was a tad slow for me, with a lot of tell and no show, it wasn’t without it’s moments of great humor and getting to know about the world.

Wench brought back the joy I felt when reading a great YA fantasy keeper of a book, and with it a new rising star of an author to be on the look-out for.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this, but it wasn't for me. I think it deserves a younger crowd, perhaps middle grade. I don't think it's a good  marketed YA novel and I personally didn't enjoy it as much as I was hoping. A strong funny main character and an interesting premise though!

Wench was, to be sure, a book that has a lot happen in it, but it was never one that grabbed me. I could put it down easily and forget to come back to it. The whole time I was reading, I kept asking why that was; why wasn't I invested? The characters were fine; Tanya was good. The world building was well done. The plot was fine. 

I think what I've landed on is that everything is just a little too inconsistent and that most of the things in Wench happen TO Tanya. She does little; eventa just occur with her in the middle. As for inconsistencies, what I mean, is that we spend 50-60% of the book getting TO what should have been the meat. The climax took a few pages. Tanya reflects after an event saying "I was thinking/feeling this" though while it was happening, we had no indication of that. Secondary characters weren't really fleshed out. They just sort of exist as one-note entities until the plot says "hey we need this person to do x even though it's never been brought up before that that is their thing." I don't know if it's really an author thing, but it's definitely an editing thing. 

Wench isn't bad, by any means, but it's just not great, either. I'm sure this is the start of a trilogy, but I don't think I would bother to read more. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Amulet books for the ebook ARC in exchange for my review. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.

Unfortunately, this book was not my cup of tea. I received an ARC through Netgalley, and the description of the book had me excited to follow Tanya's story.

The concept of a seventeen-year-old girl losing the tavern she'd hoped to inherit and setting off to demand the Queen return it to her intrigued me. However, the execution of the concept was mired by too fast, choppy pacing and a series of events that made it seem like the author had crammed two book ideas together which didn't fit. 

When it came to the characters, I regret to say I struggled to connect much with any of them. Tanya has admirable qualities: she's organized, resourceful, and practical. However, her dialogue seemed inauthentic, and I found myself indifferent when she encountered conflicts. I also didn't fully invest in the slew of side characters she interacted with throughout the story. I did appreciate the LGBTQ content.

All in all, I liked bits and pieces of this book. The magic system was interesting.

A bonkers mash up of medieval tines, fantasy and just a smidge of romance, Wench is an enjoyable read with some relatable characters.

This book has a great premise (and title). Tanya, a tavern wench, has her tavern unjustly taken from her, so she sets out to get it back. Tanya is a super strong character—indeed, thats her main characteristic, which makes her kinda annoying and boring. The pacing and plotting are off, particularly in the first half. Since Tanya’s central goal, and the outside forces challenging it, are never really made clear or connected, there isnt a lot to pull you through the book. I had trouble keeping track of all the characters, which is linked to a general lack of description; I had trouble picturing this world and the people in it.

While this sounded so fricken good, I couldn’t connect with the character or the premise like I anticipated. I’m really disappointed, but it’s just not my cup of tea.

Wench is a fantasy novel about a tavern wench who just wants to feel useful and finds out what she is capable of.  I enjoyed the world building and magic system that Kaplan created. Tanya runs the Smiling Snake, but when the owner dies without willing it to her, she must travel to meet the Queen to try to gain ownership. Along they way, she meets lots of interesting characters including several fierce females and one ill-tempered horse. Tanya is a relatable character and I really enjoyed this book.
Thanks to Netgalley and Amulet Books for the chance to read this book.

More evidence that working as a server provides you with excellent skills for any job. 

Servers have to keep up with a lot. They need to always aware of customer service. It doesn’t hurt to be a cooking magician. And, in Tayna’s case, always able to break up a bar fight. 

Tanya grew up in a tavern after being taken in by the kindly owner as a child. She’s learned a lot about people but is also oddly naive. When her guardian dies suddenly without properly willing the Inn/tavern to Tanya she is forced to embark on an unexpected dangerous journey filled with unusual characters and magic. 

I’m not a huge fan of fantasy but this one is done well and it’s funny. The main character is witty, spunky, and likable. 

I was given an early release copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read this one because my DnD squad asked me to (I don't know how they knew about it, someone in DnD circles must have reviewed it). I think they'll like it, and that's all that matters in this world.

As soon as I read “fierce feminist fairytale” I knew I had to read Wench, but maybe I’m alone but I didn’t get that from this story? The story is slow, boring, and dull laced with moments of “humor” that I just couldn’t vibe with. There is magic in this book and I would say the system works well enough, and isn’t as confusing as the likes of Furyborn… but it doesn’t have anything special to it either? It feels that the heroine instead of being strong and fierce is hiding behind a mask and pretending to be these things while hiding insecurities and shortcomings. The writing is simple and also tends to leave much to be desired. I think it would be a good read for those on the lower age range of the young adult reading scale.

What I loved: The Premise, the magic, the feminism, Tanya, the world-building
What needs improvement: pacing and all the secondary character development.
I wanted to love it five stars worth, and instead, it's a 3 and 3/4.

This was a fun and lighthearted romp of a medieval fantasy. I really loved the strong female characters and how engaging the story was. It's humorous and fun, and makes for a really quick read! There's definitely moments in the book where it feels like there's a lot going on, but it doesn't detract from the story and is easy to follow. I enjoyed this a lot!

Cover > Book.

The premise for Wench was a good one, but unfortunately the book didn’t live up to expectations.

I was expecting something akin to perhaps Daughter of the Pirate King, but this one lacks that level of cleverness and the humor misses most of the time. 

The magical system is fine, nothing special, nothing atrociously bad. But the story, which could have been a fun, rip-roaring adventure, is more of a dull slog peppered with moments of obnoxiousness. 

Part of the problem is that the heroine is just a touch irritating. Our girl has skills, to be sure, but while striving for snappy confidence, she comes off more as shrill and overcompensating. She annoys far more than she impresses, despite the fact that her skill set and character traits ought to make her winning and lovable. 

The book also skews very young on the young adult scale. This is not of course punishable in a review, but does make me feel compelled to warn off the adult faction of the YA audience. The drama and antics feel juvenile, and the writing is very simplistic.